How should a man train himself to acquire the qualities of Endurance,
Majesty, and Foundation? With regard to the Tikkunim of Endurance and
Majesty some of the qualities apply to both of them together, others
to each one distinctively.

Behold, first of all it is necessary to help students of the Torah and
to support them either with money or deeds, so as to provide them with
the things they require for their work, to prepare their food, and to
fulfill all their desires, so that they do not cease in the study of the
Torah. He should take care not to disparage their learning so that they
do not weaken in their study of the Torah, but should honor them and
praise their good deeds in order to encourage them in their work. And he
should provide them with books with which to work and with a house of
study. All such aid and support to
those who study the Torah depends on these qualites; each person should
do all he can, whether little or much. In short, whatever he does to
honor the Torah and to strengthen it with speech, which his bodily
actions and with his wealth, and to arouse people's hearts to the torah
that they engage in its study, all this is firmly held and rooted in
these two Sephiroth for they are known as 'them that lay hold upon her'
and 'that holdeth her fast'[1].

Futhermore, he who studies the Torah must be prepared to learn from all
men, as it is written: 'From all my teachers I have gotten
understanding[2].' For the Torah cannot be adequately studied from one
teacher alone. As a result of becoming a pupil of all he has the merit
of becoming a chariot to Endurance and Majesty, those taught of the
Lord, and the one who teaches him the Torah is in the degree of Beauty.
So that when he sits down to study he merits that Beauty flow into
Endurance and Majesty and then he is actually in their degree. Now,
behold, when he studies the Bible, which is of the Right[3], he has a
special association with Endurance. And when he studies Mishnah[4], which
is of the Left, he has a special association with Majesty. And Gemara[5]
includes everything, for it brings proof of the laws of the Mishnah
from the Bible so that this is a Tikkun for both of them.

However, how should man train himself to acquire the quality of
Foundation? A man must be on his guard against the kind of speech which
brings to thoughts of sin, so that he should not be visited by a seminal
emission. Needless to say, he should not speak obscenities but he should
take care not to utter even clean words if they give rise to sexual
thoughts. And this is contained in a careful examination of the verse:
'Suffer not[6] thy mouth to bring thy flesh unto guilt,' this is, take care
not to suffer the mouth to give speech which can bring sin to the
holy flesh, the sign of the covenant[7], with seminal emission. And it is
written: 'Wherefore should God be angry . . .[8] ' Now if obscenity is
meant what is the meaning of: 'bring to guilt' seeing that this itself
is 'guilt'? But the meaning is that even if there is no sin in the
actual word itself, for it is clean, he should take care if it is able
to bring about sexual thoughts. This is why he says: 'To bring thy
flesh to guilt. . . Why should God be angry?' He meants that when sin
does result He will be angered by that speech thought it were
permissible; for the voice and the speech revert to evil when the deed
results from it. This is the extent of the care that must be taken with
regard to the sign of the covenant that he should not have sexual
imaginings and so destroy.

Further care is necessary, for Foundation is the sign of the covenant
of the bow[9] and the Bow of the Upper World[10] is only outstretched in order
to shoot arrows into the quality of Sovereignty, which is 'the target
for arrows[11],' preserving the drop which shoots as an arrow[12] to bring forth
branches and to bear fruit[13]. Now, just as the Supernal Bow is never
stretched except it be toward this target, so, too, man should not
stretch his bow and allow himself and erection under any circumstances
except it be for the proper purpose[14], namely, for his wife when she
is clean[15], which is the time of union. And not more than this, for it
causes a flaw in this quality, God forend. Exceedingly great care must
be taken and the main precaution is to guard oneself from sexual
imaginings.

From all my teachers.. Ps. 119:99 The plain meaning of
the verse is 'more than all my teachers' but the Hebrew mikkol can mean
both 'more than all' and 'from all.' Ben Zoma (2nd cent.) interprets
the verse in the second sense: 'Who is wise? He who learns from all men;
as it is said, From all my teachers I have gotten understanding' ('Aboth 4:1)

Mishnah The code of Jewish Law edited by R. Judah the
Prince and completed circa 200 c.e.

Gemara The discussions in the Palestinian and Babylonian
schools in the post-Mishnaic period. The Babylonian Gemara was completed
circa 500 ce. One of the chief functions of the Gemara is to find
support for the laws of the Mishnah from the Bible.